


L’amore è un aereoplano che fa avanti e indietro

by JuliaBaggins



Category: Eurovision Song Contest RPF, Festival di Sanremo RPF
Genre: Angst, Feelings follow later, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, From Sex to Love, Hook-Up, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, M/M, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Sex Toys, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-13 20:10:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21218267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaBaggins/pseuds/JuliaBaggins
Summary: Ermal works as a security officer at the airport and Fabrizio is a passenger with a suspicious item in his backpack. There's an instant chemistry between them, and maybe, later, there'll also be some feelings..





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xenolinguist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenolinguist/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [L’amore è un aereoplano che fa avanti e indietro](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22451704) by [nightconfessions](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightconfessions/pseuds/nightconfessions)

> Important information, this story is way more nsfw than what I usually write, so be warned there 😉
> 
> And this started as a cracky idea at 3am with a friend while I was nervous for flying for the first time in forever, so please don't expect any extra accurate airline luggage regulations or smth the like 😅🙈 it's just a nice :) little story 🔥
> 
> Thanks to Ceci, for your enthusiasm about this idea, and the support ❤️

The rain was drumming a steady rhythm against the airport’s high windows, but the young man walking towards his workplace didn’t pay attention to the weather which rather was unusual for Rome. It was a background noise, just like the many announcements about various flights and passengers, to which he had gotten oh so used in the two years he already had been working here. Being a security control guard at the Fiumicino airport had started out as a job that just was convenient for him, when he had been in need of an activity that would provide him not only with money but also with a new perspective, new challenges, and over time, he had started to actually enjoy it. 

What he couldn’t imagine was sitting in an office and doing the very same thing every single day of the week, this just wouldn’t suit him, and so it was refreshing to work in a job that newly surprised him every day, and that offered so many interesting views of humanity, little glimpses at the lives of a myriad of different people. People caught in so many different emotions, but often enough in happiness, and that was one of his very favourite things about his job. Being able to see it in their faces, the happiness – the excitement of a child that was about to fly on holidays for the first time, the satisfaction of a businessman after a successful journey, the overboarding joy of a person who was about to be _home_ soon, back in the arms of whom they loved.

He liked his job, but today, it had been a long day, and he was looking forward to his shift to end quite a lot. A smoking break, cramped under the roof with a group of children impatiently waiting for their bus to arrive (or for the rain to end, or for both) had helped, just as the half finished coffee he held in his hand did, but he still wasn’t exactly looking forward to another hour of security checks. And while he still was caught up in thoughts of what he might do after his shift, not coming up with any ideas that were more exciting than a pizza in front of the TV, he heard someone call his name.

“Ermal!”, the rushed voice of Francesca, his new coworker, sounded towards Ermal, and he quickly finished his coffee before joining her at the security check.

There already was a queue, a longer one than usual, people looking around darkly as if they’d start complaining every moment, and when Ermal looked at the front of the queue, he saw a man, nervously clenching his hands. He looked like he was around Ermal’s age, maybe a little bit older, his hair was a mess, just like his outfit, and his dark eyes looked towards Ermal as he approached the station. And as much as he wished he wouldn’t, faced with the hideous clothes combination that the man was wearing, Ermal couldn’t help but notice that he was rather attractive. And looked like a combination of factors one wouldn’t put together on the first glance, because both his ripped shirt and the tattoos on his muscled arms looked like trouble, but his chocolate coloured eyes and the rainbow patterned plaid shirt slung around his hips didn’t. Additionally, his gaze didn’t look like that of the people who usually needed to spend an extended time at the security controls – he seemed neither scared nor aggressive or defensive, no, he rather looked.. caught? An interesting person, of that Ermal already was sure.

Ermal stepped next to Francesca, greeted the passenger with a nod, and then asked her what was the issue.

“Well. I know that the rules about electronical devices with storage batteries do vary, like, you’re allowed to bring along a laptop into the cabin, but not certain power banks for the phone. But I fear in our lectures we’ve never talked about.. this”, and she gestured towards a worn-down black backpack, which Ermal assumed to belong to the man in front of him.

He picked up the backpack, weighing it in his hand, and wondered what the man might have inside there. An additional battery pack for a drone could cause problems, just as certain music equipment, and didn’t he look like a musician? Yes, that might be it, Ermal wondered, while he laid the backpack down at the table and looked inside. And got surprised.

After rummaging around in the chaos of clothes, books and loose papers inside the backpack for a moment, he was able to find the suspicious item, and what he held in his hand was a bright pink vibrator. Ermal looked at it, and then at the passenger, trying his hardest to suppress a chuckle.

“Nice colour”, Ermal remarked towards the passenger, who seemed to be blushing just the tiniest bit under his gaze.

The passenger’s eyes flimmered away from Ermal’s face for a moment, towards the vibrator which he held in his elegant fingers as if he knew exactly what he was doing, and he swallowed.

Therewhile, Ermal continued to inspect the vibrator, leading to a question: “Is it possible to remove the battery pack?”

“No”, the passenger answered, in a voice which Ermal realized to be rather pleasant, “You can’t, because, you know, it’s waterproof”, and the blush on his sun-kissed cheeks deepened. 

“Alright”, Ermal nodded, and then, after a look at the growing queue of people, turned towards Francesca, “I’ll take care of this, you just go on here, okay?”

“Yes, sure, thank you Ermal”, and she already waved towards the first family to join her at the security checkpoint.

“Would you please follow me, Sir?”, Ermal asked the passenger, and then led him away from the people who still were complaining, even though the queue was moving now, and towards one of the small security control rooms.

At Ermal’s request, the man sat down in the chair opposite from him, and Ermal continued to inspect the device. He himself didn’t really have much experience with sex toys, but he remembered talking about the topic with a former girlfriend, and he sometimes walked past such stores, and on top of all of that, his common sense would have been enough to tell him that this thing was quite impressive, size-wise. Interesting.

“So you.. work.. with this?”, Ermal asked, and the passenger buried his face in his hands.

“Yes, yes I do. I’m a single dad with a busy job and zero time for dating, I’m not ashamed of this”, and while he said the last part, he lowered his hands from his blushing face again.

And, for the first time, Ermal was able to see a rather fascinating glint in his eyes. Something nearly like a challenge.

“The reason why you can’t take your _little_”, Ermal couldn’t help a smirk at the word, “friend along with you on the plane is purely because of safety regulations about the battery packs; the airline wouldn’t care if it was a regular dildo. And I, personally, am totally not judging you, I get it. I’m just curious if this is, well, as much.. fun, as actually having someone there with you?”

The passenger swallowed, his eyes leaving those of Ermal not once while he answered.

“Well, no, but it’s also.. different? I don’t need to trust anyone, talk to people, no risk to make a fool out of myself. A nice relaxing time with just me, nothing more.”

“Hmm. You know, quite honestly, I don’t think you’re making a fool out of yourself.”

“Oh really?”, the passenger asked with a raised eyebrow, in a nearly suggestive way, “How often do people not pass the security check for carrying a bright pink sex toy?”

“Not nearly often enough for my job to usually be as much fun as it is today.”

The passenger continued to look at Ermal, questions dancing in his chocolate eyes.

“What are you telling me here?”, he asked, his voice low, a little raspy.

Ermal shook his head, his curly hair dancing around, and he looked down while he answered.

“I’m flirting with you, or rather, I’m _trying_ to. If you have to ask, it can’t be working too well.”

“Oh, it is”, the passenger disagreed, “it’s just, you know-“

“You can go”, Ermal said, rushed, as he suddenly thought he had understood what was going on, and could curse himself for not having done so earlier.

“Hu?”

“You didn’t violate any serious safety issues, if that’s what you’re worried about, I’m not holding you here. You’re free to go, you absolutely are. This is in no way any pressure situation, please don’t think that I’d try to use-“

Before Ermal could finish the sentence, a tattooed hand grabbed his tie, purposely, bringing their faces closer together above the table.

“I wasn’t worried about any of this, but now that you’ve said it and proven yourself to be such a gentleman, I fear that I won’t have another option but to kiss you, right here and right now.”

And so the passenger kissed Ermal, passionate – not the hesitant first press of lips of someone who didn’t even know the other’s name, but rather the hungry kiss of someone who knew exactly what he wanted. The position above the table was uncomfortable, so quickly, both of them stood up, hands roaming above clothes, a pull at Ermal’s curls that had him moan into the kiss, his own clever fingers slipping underneath the man’s shirt.

Fabrizio felt the butterfly light touch of fingers slowly running up his spine, the goosebumps it caused to break out on his skin, and then, suddenly, the sharp sensation of teeth biting the point where his neck met his shoulder, resulting in something between a gasp and a moan. The security officer licked across the spot he had just bitten, and then pressed against Fabrizio, resulting in his back to hit the little room’s wall. And then, the man leaned forward, his teeth nibbling at Fabrizio’s ear, before he whispered right into it.

“I’m not quite as much of a gentleman as you might think me to be.”

At that, Fabrizio felt a shiver running through his whole body, and he would have to make sure to later thank his friend Roberto, who had advised him that it would be wise to go to the airport a little bit earlier, since this spare time seemed to develop to be most exciting. As soon as elegant pale fingers lifted the hem of his shirt though, all thoughts of his friend were blown out of Fabrizio’s head, and he raised his arms, to allow the other man to easier get him out of his clothes. 

The curly haired man leaned forward, to place a series of kisses on Fabrizio’s firm chest, and then, after teasing his left nipple with his teeth, he whispered: “Would you like to go a little further?”

Fabrizio nodded, enthusiastically, and then watched the younger man shrugging out of his uniform jacket, revealing a pair of arms that looked as if it belonged to a Greek marble statue. He told Fabrizio to lay down at the table, but only after placing his own jacket on top of it, and Fabrizio could feel the soft fabric at the inside of the jacket against his flushed, naked skin. The other man quickly got rid of Fabrizio’s pants, letting his fingernails ghost over the insides of his thighs, and then Fabrizio witnessed with interest how the curly haired officer picked up a certain bright pink tool.

“Should I figure out how those vicious batteries do work?”, the young man asked with a smirk, and Fabrizio shook his head.

“No, I, I’d like _you_ to-“, and he trailed off since his thigh was getting some delicious attention again, only that this time, it was a lingering kiss pressed there, and this was even more distracting.

“You can have me”, the man with the curls promised, a bit breathless, “but maybe we can use this as.. preparation?”

“Preparation?”, Fabrizio leaned up on his elbows and raised an eyebrow, while his eyes landed on the sex toy, with whose quite impressive size he was rather familiar.

At that, the other man just smirked, and then, after placing the tiniest hint of a kiss on the tip of Fabrizio’s rather interested dick, he got up from the table, to nonchalantly step out of his own pants. And Fabrizio’s eyes widened. This looked like.. a challenge. In all the very best ways.

While Ermal stared at the naked man laying on top of his jacket on the table, the image looking as if it was taken out of one of his nicest fantasies in lonely night hours at home, he became aware of something, and cursed under his breath.

“Shit, we’ve got no condom, we shouldn’t without, and also no lube, I wouldn’t want to h-“

“My backpack.”

“Hm?”, Ermal asked in confusion, looking towards the backpack which had ended up on one of the chairs.

“Look into my backpack, I’ve got both there”, the tattooed man’s voice commandeered, and Ermal raised an eyebrow, as much as he had one.

“Aaalright”, and as soon as he had searched in the backpack, he shook his head disapprovingly, “You’re aware that this bottle of lube contains a larger amount of liquid than what you’re allowed to carry in your hand luggage, are you?”

“I.. wasn’t”, the man answered, looking at Ermal sheepishly.

“Did you read any safety regulations before starting this journey?”

“No?”

“Oh my”, Ermal sighed, purposely dramatic, “That sounds like you’re a rather reckless man. One nearly could say.. dangerous. Did you know there’s punishment for taking too much of a liquid along into the passenger cabin?”

“Is there?”, and here it was again, clearer now – a challenge in those dark eyes, one that Ermal gladly took on.

“Oh yes”, Ermal answered, letting his right hand wander over the other man’s tattooed chest; just his fingernails touching the skin, with enough pressure behind it to be bordering on painful.

Ermal’s hand reached the older’s throat, he felt him swallow nervously, and, experimentally, wrapped his fingers around his throat. The noise leaving those pretty plush lips at this was quite a clear indicator that this had been a good idea, and Ermal held a little tighter. Therewhile, his other hand was busy opening the bottle of lube, which was a challenge, alone, but Ermal happened to have both clever fingers as well as a very good motivation, so he made it work.

The tattooed man’s eyes fluttered close when Ermal started to tease him with a first finger, he let out a soft sigh when Ermal added a second and proved to be quite clever with those, and Ermal smiled against his inked chest, where he was busy tracing elegant black lines with his tongue. At the same time, he felt the other’s low moans as vibrations against the hand he still had wrapped around his throat, and then also when he started to speak in a husky voice.

“If you dare to come close to me with that vibrator instead of yourself now then I’m gonna throw it at you.”

Fabrizio heard the younger man’s chuckle, and then, when he leaned up a bit more to look at him (thereby increasing the pressure at his throat yet a little more, and oh, wasn’t this nice), he saw the fire, the hunger and the lust dancing in his eyes. And at the same time, contrasting with this, Fabrizio spotted a very sweet smile, and oh, that was an enchanting mix if he ever has seen one.

“Whatever you wish for, sweetheart”, and after that whisper, and a little kiss to the corner of Fabrizio’s lips, he pulled on the condom and some extra lube, and then got in place.

The curly haired man entered Fabrizio in one swift motion, thereby stealing his breath for a moment, and, after a quick look into his eyes, he started to move. And Fabrizio had to agree with his earlier words – the way that the man fucked him spoke of anything but a gentleman, but then again, the way in which he intertwined their fingers absolutely did.

“Look at me”, the younger man commanded in a slightly shaky voice a few moments later, when once again, Fabrizio’s eyes had fluttered close, him being totally lost in the moment and the sensations coming with it.

He listened to the command, and once he had opened his eyes, an absolutely enchanting picture was presenting itself to him. The younger man’s curls were dancing like wildfire in the wind, the muscles in his lean chest shifting with his every movement, a few drops of sweat glistening on top of it, and when their eyes met right in the moment that one of his hard trusts once again found a rather nice spot inside Fabrizio, the older man came with a choked gasp.

The curly haired man continued his movements for another minute before his eyes fell closed, his mouth opened in something resembling a silent scream, and for a second, his face reminded Fabrizio of a statue he once had seen in a museum, depicting a saint being embraced by holy fire.

After catching his breath again and with still slightly trembling thighs, the younger man pulled out, carefully, stood up, and raised their still intertwined hands, to place a kiss at Fabrizio’s knuckles. Fabrizio smiled softly, and then sat up on the table, but didn’t try to stand himself, his legs feeling too shaky to be trusted yet. Answering his smile, the other man walked around the table on bare feet, and then lifted his own jacket from it to place it around Fabrizio’s shoulders before sitting down next to him.

“Do you happen to have a cigarette?”, Fabrizio asked while looking at his own hands, and the younger man laughed.

“If you break _that_ airport rule, I fear I won’t be able to get you out, and you’ll have to sleep with one of the firefighters that get called instead.”

Fabrizio laughed too, but then, he felt that he should make something clear there, so the younger man wouldn’t get a wrong impression of him.

“Na, I wouldn’t, I only sleep with strangers under very special circumstances.”

“Special circumstances, that’s what we call some above average size nowadays?”

“Oh shut up”, Fabrizio complained, leaning over to affectionately ruffle the other’s curls, “You’re a bastard, did someone ever tell you this?”

“Hmm”, he agreed with a smile, and then placed a kiss at Fabrizio’s cheek.

“I wasn’t talking about this, or, well, not only. You’re very hot in general, and I, you’re nice, I like you, I don’t even know why, but I do. And I, who knows, maybe, I think I’d like to see you again."

For someone sitting naked on a table he’s just been fucked on with his own come still sticking to his stomach, the tattooed man managed to sound rather shy during his talking, and, Ermal couldn’t fight the thought, quite adorable.

“I’d like to see you again too”, Ermal answered, placing an arm around strong shoulders, and when he felt a messy birdnest of hair resting at his shoulder, he smiled.

“Don’t you have to get back to work, at some point?”

“Don’t you have a plane to catch?”, and both of them didn’t quite want to admit it, how utterly unimportant this seemed at the moment.

_ “Last call for Alitalia flight AZ-1157 to Reggio Calabria, the passenger Fabrizio Mobrici is urgently asked to please come aboard.”_

Fabrizio cursed, using some words in a Roman dialect so heavy that his companion didn’t understand it all, no matter that he had lived in the city himself for a while, and, without looking at the younger man, Fabrizio stood up, started to collect his clothes from where they were scattered around the ground, and then to get dressed.

The call for his flight had caused him to sober up a bit, and he internally scolded himself. What was he even doing here, what was he getting himself into? And what were those fucking butterflies in his stomach? There was no way to know that this too attractive for his own good security officer wasn’t doing something like this every other day, and Fabrizio tried to convince himself to just walk out of the room. To get his plane, and remember this as nothing but a sex adventure to tell when enough alcohol had been involved that everyone would assume it to be a story he had made up.

He already had reached the door, when he heard a voice behind him.

“Fabrizio?”, and it took him a moment too long to realize that while he never had told the other man his name, it was not quite worthy of Sherlock Holmes to realize that the call had been about him, judged by how urgently he was reacting to it.

“Yes?”, and he hated the hope clinging to his voice, as if he was a stupid schoolboy who just had received a smile from the prettiest girl in the year.

“How important is that plane of yours?”, and those words caused Fabrizio to turn around.

He looked at the young man, still leaning against the table, his curls falling into his face, and when Fabrizio looked into his nearly black eyes, all the butterflies were back, dancing a tango in his stomach. And he _wanted_ to believe that this hadn’t been just a random hook up to forget right away.

“It’s for a family birthday, I can’t miss it”, Fabrizio explained in a low voice, and he saw the shoulders of the other man sinking a bit.

“Okay. I hope that you’ll have a good time there.”

They looked at each other, both unsure of what to do, and then, mentally taking the deepest of breaths, Fabrizio walked back to the table, to place a quick kiss on the younger’s cheek.

“I could call you, once I’m back in Rome?”

The smile he received in return was blinding, and Fabrizio quickly handed over his phone, so the other could save his number inside. And then, he ran out of the room, his backpack minus one certain item slung across his left shoulder, and nevertheless feeling more happy, and more _satisfied_ than he had in a long time.

When he boarded the plane, out of breath from his sprint and under the disapproving glances from the flight attendants, Fabrizio was still feeling the butterflies in his stomach, flying loops above each other, and once he sat down at his seat and looked out of the window, towards the airport, he brightly smiled. He couldn’t wait to come back here, and to get to see a certain airport security officer again.

When Ermal got back to his workplace around the same time, Francesca raised one of her elegant eyebrows at him, and whispered: “I hope it was worth the shift change you now owe me as a thanks for doing your work too for an hour here.”

“I’ll do your morning shifts for the whole next week if you want me to.”

“_That_ good, hu? You’re a lucky man, Ermal, I hope you know this.”

Ermal just shook his head, and then, when he spared a quick glance at his phone before getting back to work, he whispered “I do.”

He had received one new message, from an unknown number.

_It’s been a pleasure to meet you, Ermal, and it’s nice to be able to connect a name with that pretty face. I’ll be back in Rome next weekend, maybe you’d like to tell me your address? Hugs, Fabrizio_

A pleasure it had been indeed, and Ermal couldn’t wait for the weekend. And for a bit more than hugs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ermal and Fabrizio continue to meet each other, exclusively to have sex.  
Today, they want to try out a roleplay. And Fabrizio would like to ask an important question...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still nsfw 😊🔥

_ **Two Weeks Later** _

Fabrizio was excited. This thing between Ermal and him, it was very new, and despite the fact that they already had been finding out how very compatible in a sexual way they were without even knowing each other's names, they were still in the phase of getting to know each other. Mostly, getting to know what they enjoyed doing in bed, and for today, they once again had something new planned. 

Right now, Fabrizio was sitting in Ermal's flat, which still felt weird, in a way - he probably had been fucked in every room of the apartment in the last two weeks, but at the same time, Ermal and him never had been on a date or something the like, and Fabrizio wasn't quite sure where they were standing. What they would call themselves – they certainly were not in a relationship, but were they friends with benefits then? Were they even friends? They hadn’t known each other long enough for that, or at least usually Fabrizio would say that two weeks weren’t long enough to establish a friendship, especially when the time you spend together was majorly spent not talking. But then again, things with Ermal were different, everything seemed to be different. Fabrizio didn’t let people into his heart easily, he didn’t do hook ups, and yet, here he was. And despite the confusion that certainly was there in his mind, concerning the situation, he had to smile. Because things indeed were rather nice, and he could imagine them to become even nicer, if he just managed to be brave and ask a question.

Yes, he enjoyed the sex, of course he did, it was beyond delightful, but what he enjoyed just as much, maybe even more, was the caress of Ermal's fingers at his skin, his hot kisses, the way he'd wrap a blanket around his shoulders after fucking his brains out. The wit dancing in his nearly black eyes, his heavenly curls, his sweet smiles – Ermal was overally enchanting, and Fabrizio couldn’t help but admit to himself that he cared for him as more than the best fling of his life.

And so, Fabrizio was excited, and, to be honest, quite nervous, for two reasons today. First, because of the roleplay they wanted to try out as soon as Ermal was home from work, and second, because he planned to ask the other man afterwards if he'd like to go out for dinner with him. Fabrizio bit his lip, shifted a bit in his chair - and moaned. Ermal had sent him a text message earlier, telling him when to put in the plug in his ass, accompanied by the ask to please not touch himself any further, and a kissing smiley. And this had been quite a while ago. So it was not exaggerated to say that Fabrizio maybe was growing a bit.. impatient.

It took a few more minutes, in which Fabrizio tried to think of the most unsexy things imaginable (his PE teacher in school, right wing politicians, Real Madrid winning the Champions League..), until finally, _finally_, he heard the sound of keys rattling, and then Ermal walked into the door. Still in his work uniform, of course, just as Fabrizio had imagined, and the younger man winked at him, smiled warmly for a second. 

"You ready to go?", Ermal asked, and there was something in his voice, something a bit rougher than usual, which told Fabri that he wasn't the only one very excited here. 

He nodded, and, when Ermal didn't move, whispered a "Yes, I can't wait." 

The younger man smiled again, but very different this time - hungry, dangerous, and utterly enchanting. Ermal walked a few steps, until he stood right next to the doorway between the living room and the bedroom, and straightened his uniform. 

"Next passenger", he called, his voice now having the annoyed edge of someone who was having a long day at work and just wanted to get it done. Fabrizio stood up, his feet a tiny bit unsteady, and walked over, until he was standing under the doorway as if it was one of those security detectors at the airport. He raised his hands a bit, waited - and then, something like a high-pitched alarm sounded. Fabri couldn't fight a little smirk at this, Ermal had really come well prepared.

"Have you got any metal items still in your pockets, Sir? Keys, your phone, coins maybe?", Ermal asked, his voice still sounding nearly bored, while he walked closer to Fabrizio.

"No", and while Fabri shook his head, Ermal put both of his hands on the older's shoulders, and started to feel down his body, maybe with a bit more attention to detail than airport security usually would. When he reached Fabrizio's hips, he let his hands wander a bit more, and then grabbed his ass, but nothing more.

After a moment and a firm grip from his elegant fingers, Ermal felt down Fabri's legs, and then stepped back a bit. 

"Hmm", he considered, and then went towards his bag, which he had placed next to the sofa. 

Out of it, he got a wireless metal detector, looking like the remote control for a TV nearly, and switched it on. He walked towards Fabri again, the sound of his boots heavy on the wooden planks on the floor, and then started checking him with the metal detector, beginning at his shoulders. Then he went further down, slowly, as if he wouldn't know what he was looking for. 

And then, finally, the metal detector started an angry _pling-pling-pling_. 

"Now what's that?", Ermal asked, holding the device closer to Fabrizio's ass, before grabbing his shoulder with his other hand, and giving him a little push forward. 

Fabrizio caught himself with his hands against the inside of the doorframe, and then risked a look over his shoulder, where he met Ermal's burning glance.

"Do you want to tell me why my metal detector starts going crazy about your ass?" 

"Oh, but maybe this doesn't have to be the only thing going crazy about my ass", Fabri answered, smiling sweetly. 

As an answer, Ermal grabbed Fabrizio's pants with both hands, and yanked them down in one swift movement, until they were hanging loosely around his knees.

Fabrizio had turned his gaze back towards the doorframe, resting his forehead against the cool wood, but had he looked back, he would have been faced with a quite mesmerized look on Ermal's face. His eyes were fixed on the plug, shiny silver and a deep blue stone as a decoration in the handle as an enchanting contrast against Fabrizio's skin, and when Ermal laid the metal detector carelessly onto a shelf next to the door, he finally had both hands free to explore. 

While his left hand firmly grabbed one of Fabrizio's ass cheeks, the fingers of his right hand touched the butt plug, applying just the tiniest hint of pressure. And then a tiny bit more. A shiver ran through Fabrizio's body, his thighs trembling while he rested his weight heavier against the doorframe, and Ermal leaned forward, his teeth catching Fabrizio's earlobe before he whispered right into his ear.

"You've been a very bad man, Mr. Mobrici. I fear I'll have to arrest you."

Fabrizio shivered once again, this time caused by the tone of Ermal's voice, and while the younger accompanied his words by a lick of his tongue down the side of Fabrizio's throat, he could feel his own dick twitching in anticipation. 

"Stay right where you are", Ermal commanded, and then was gone, but just for a second. 

He hurried back to his work bag, Fabrizio could hear the leather lowly creaking as Ermal opened it, and then, he was back, delicate fingers suddenly closing around Fabri's left wrist before yanking it behind him.

Fabrizio heard the snapping sound with which the handcuff closed at the same time as he felt the cold metal at his skin, and he swallowed. They had talked about this before, of course they had, and he had agreed to try it out. And he knew that he could tell Ermal to stop, could do so at any point, but he found that he didn't want to. Not at all. When the handcuff closed around his second wrist, Fabrizio thought about how incredibly exciting this was, in all the best ways, and when Ermal yanked his body towards himself, grabbing the handcuffs and causing Fabrizio's whole body to rest heavily against his own, all thoughts were blown out of the older's mind.

Ermal guided Fabrizio into the bedroom, his grip on his cuffed hands rough but his lips kissing Fabri's shoulder gentle, and once they reached the bed, he stopped, standing in front of it.

"I'll have to further inspect you, Mr. Mobrici, before I can allow you to fly anywhere. Do you understand me?"

"I do", Fabrizio answered, and if Ermal was able to hear the excitement in his voice, then he certainly didn't mind it.

"Then lay down", Ermal commanded, and gave Fabri a little push forward.

The older man fell forward onto his stomach, unable to catch himself with his hands bound as they were, but Ermal had made sure to put a lot of soft pillows onto his bed, and when Fabri robbed a bit forward to lay comfortable and with his whole body at the mattress, Ermal helped him. Then, after letting his fingers wander gently over the older's muscled shoulders, he placed one of his knees at each side of Fabri's legs, and leaned down, until his breath ghosted over Fabrizio's ass.

"Did you really think you'd be allowed to fly with this?", Ermal whispered, before touching the stone in the butt plug with his tongue.

A tremble once again went through Fabri's body, and Ermal smirked. He kissed Fabrizio's sun-tanned ass cheek, then let him feel his teeth a bit, and after a second, his fingers grabbed the plug's handle, before slowly but steadily pulling it out. Fabrizio was breathing heavily, bordering on moaning, and Ermal looked at the plug which he now held in his hand, and which was bigger than he had expected. _Nice_.

For a moment, Ermal just admired Fabrizio's ass, hearing his heavy breath, seeing the sweat glistening on his lovely skin.

"Please", Fabrizio moaned, and Ermal placed another kiss onto his ass.

"Please what?"

"Please fuck me", he whispered, his accent slipping through heavier than it did when he usually was talking, and then, when Ermal didn't react at first, he added a pleading: _"Officer."_

Now it was Ermal's turn to swallow, feeling his dick twitch, and after checking the handcuffs once again, he leaned away for a moment, to grab a little box he kept on his nightstand. Out of it, he fished a condom and a bottle of lube, and after coating his fingers quite thoroughly, he was able to see that the plug had done its job rather well. Fabrizio moaned again, moving against Ermal's fingers, but at the same time, they both knew this was not what they wanted to ultimately go for.

Ermal scissored his fingers for a bit, until he found quite a nice spot, and when Fabrizio let out something nearly like a scream, Ermal smiled, and then pulled his fingers out.

"Prepare yourself, Mr. Mobrici", Ermal ordered, but he made it sound nearly like a question, and only when Fabrizio did nod, his eyes fluttering closed therewhile, Ermal did put on a condom, some lube and then got into position.

With one powerful movement, Ermal did enter the older man, causing something like a nearly surprised sigh, and before he started moving, he ran his hands up and down Fabrizio's arms, from his strong shoulders to his cuffed hands.

"Don't know what to do next, officer?", Fabrizio teased, in a breathy voice, and Ermal had to chuckle, while at the same time, he firmly grabbed Fabrizio's hips. 

Oh, he would show him just how very well he knew what to do with him.

Ermal started a rhythm, fucking Fabrizio slow but deep, and after a while, he slipped his right arm around the others torso, flexing his muscles to lift him up. Fabrizio felt his chest being pulled away from the mattress, Ermal holding him tight, and when Fabri's back connected closely with Ermal's chest, he continued to fuck him, the new angle giving him interesting new opportunities.

Fabrizio let his head fall backwards, until it rested at Ermal's shoulder, and when he held him a little closer, he could feel the cold metal that was binding Fabrizio's hands touching his own stomach. And that was quite an interesting sensation, especially paired with the knowledge of what a delicate situation they were in.

While his right arm held Fabrizio up, Ermal let his left hand wander over the other's body, tracing his tattoos as far as he could see them, pinching his nipples, while at the same time, kissing his shoulder and continuing to fuck him hard. Fabrizio was lost in pleasure, his eyes closed and his fingers twitching in the handcuffs, and suddenly, a thought hit Ermal.

At the time that his fingers once again wandered towards Fabrizio's throat - a thing they had discovered during the last weeks they were both quite fond of - Ermal thought about how much _trust_ was needed for what they were doing here, for Fabrizio putting himself into the position he was in, and Ermal felt an intense wave of affection running through him. He buried his face in the crook of Fabrizio's neck, kissing his collarbone tenderly, and then reached his hand down, to wrap it around Fabrizio's dick.

After a few quick strokes, Fabrizio was coming all over Ermal's hand, his muscles trembling while incoherent moans slipped out of Fabri's plush lips, and hadn't it been for Ermal's arm holding him up, he'd have collapsed right onto the bed. But as it was, Ermal kept him upright, kept him close, and while he stroked the other through his orgasm and felt his soft hair tickling his shoulder, Ermal realized how close he himself was.

Two trusts more, three, and Ermal was coming too, his world turning a bit black around the edges, his legs twitching, and to muffle his scream, he bit down into Fabrizio's shoulder, hard. 

Then, after a moment of panting, Ermal pulled out, slowly, and lowered Fabrizio down onto the mattress, so he was resting at his side and his head was bedded on a soft pillow. Ermal leaned down, to stroke a few sweaty strands of hair out of Fabrizio's forehead, and after throwing away the condom and grabbing a towel from the bathroom to wipe clean Fabrizio's stomach and his own hand, he picked up the key for the handcuffs, taking Fabrizio's wrist into his fingers once again, to be able to open the cuffs.

This turned out to be quite a challenge though, with nothing but the hint of light from the streetlamps falling in through the bedroom’s curtains, and so Ermal reached over, to turn on the lamp on the nightstand. Warm light illuminated the two men on the bed, and when he turned his gaze back towards Fabrizio, Ermal swallowed.

Ermal could see the imprints of his hands on Fabrizio's hips, the dark spots at his shoulder where he had bitten him, and his slightly opened mouth, his still closed eyes, his chest rising and falling in a fastened rhythm.

"Fabrizio?", Ermal asked, softly, touching the gentlest of fingers to Fabrizio's face.

"Hmm", the older man just answered, not opening his eyes.

"Are you alright?"

At this, Fabrizio's eyes did open, pupils blown wide in their warm chocolate colour, and once he had fixated his gaze on Ermal, a relaxed smile took over his face.

"Better than that", Fabrizio answered, burying his blushed and smiling face into the pillow.

Ermal leaned down to place a kiss at Fabrizio's forehead, he couldn’t resist the impulse, and then, he went to open the handcuffs, throwing both them and the key away before taking Fabrizio's wrists into his fingers, softly rubbing over the sore skin.

Fabrizio just continued to smile, and snuggled a bit closer, until Ermal wrapped both of his arms around him, holding him tight once again, but in a gentler way than before, with very different intensions.

"Would you like to stay a bit longer?"

"Yes, but I, I don't think that I can again, any time soon..", Fabrizio whispered, and Ermal was glad that the other couldn't see his face with the way that they were laying, for he suspected that he might be blushing.

"No, I, I didn't mean - stay, but just to sleep? If you'd like to?"

„I would like to, yes“, Fabrizio answered, and then grabbed one of Ermal’s hands resting at his stomach, to bring it towards his lips and gently kiss it.

“And are you sure that you’re okay?”, Ermal asked, letting his hands wander over Fabrizio’s sides in a comforting manner.

“Very. I enjoyed this a lot, _officer_”, and while he smirked, Fabrizio’s eyes fell closed again.

Ermal placed a kiss at the soft short hairs at Fabrizio’s neck, and then closed his own eyes. And for a while, he was sure that Fabrizio already had fallen asleep, but then, the older man moved in his arms a bit, intertwining his fingers with the ones of Ermal’s hand resting on his chest, and it sounded as if Fabrizio had opened his mouth, as if to speak, but then, no words followed.

“Fabrizio?”, Ermal’s voice sounded close to his ear, and Fabrizio had to swallow.

For a moment, he had thought that he was ready, that he could ask Ermal out, but now, with the younger’s full attention on him, he wasn’t so sure anymore. Especially with how good he felt in this moment, how _content_ – their sex had been amazing, and now, Ermal held him so gently, it was a dream come true. A dream that he didn’t want to lose, a little bubble of happiness that he didn’t dare to risk having it fly away. 

Sometimes, he wondered if Ermal might feel something romantic towards him too, sometimes it seemed like it, but then again, the younger never seemed to be interested to spend time with him when it wasn’t sex-related, at least he never had indicated something the like. Maybe he just was naturally cuddly after fucking someone, and that explained why he held Fabrizio so tenderly, even though he might not be interested in a relationship of a romantic nature? He was a good person, of that Fabrizio was absolutely sure, and it would serve as an explanation why Ermal took such great care to make sure that he was alright. And maybe Fabrizio was just overthinking this, he wondered, and tried to focus on nothing but the warmth that Ermal gifted him by holding him so close.

He would think about this tomorrow, and if he’d find a hint that Ermal might be interested, he would ask him out then. Yes, he would, Fabrizio promised himself, while for now, he just snuggled closer into the other’s embrace, and into the happy bubble of feeling cared for. And, if he didn’t think about it too much, if he allowed himself to just _feel_, maybe even _loved_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love 💙💛


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ermal has an unpleasant day at work, but maybe a certain someone can make it better..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not smutty this time; just feels with a side dose of angst ☺️
> 
> Thanks to Ceci for her lovely angsty ideas 💕
> 
> Oh, and, fun fact, I asked two friends for a spontaneous idea on how to name an evil Italian dude, and both of them immediately said Claudio, so, there's that 😅

_ **A few days later** _

“Soo?”, Francesca’s voice rose Ermal out of his thoughts.

He blinked at her, “Hu? Sorry, I didn’t hear what you said..”

“Yeah, I noticed that”, she laughed, “I wanted to know if you’d like to join Carla and me to the cinema this evening? But, let me guess, my friend, you’re gonna decline, and the reason for that will be the same why you get so very lost in your daydreams lately”, and Francesca winked at him, nearly in a provocative way.

“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.”

“Oh do you now? Not a single clue where those smiles you recently wear do come from, the excitement to check the messages on your phone, this joy towards the end of your shifts that suits you so well? No connection at all to a certain tattooed gentleman whom you might have met around the same time that this good mood started?”

Ermal huffed, glanced around to see if there weren’t new passengers arriving that they’d have to control. Just anything to put this conversation to a halt, but no such opportunity presented itself. Francesca watched him and then continued in a gentler voice.

“Ermal? Hey, I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, but really, I just want you do be happy. It’s lovely to see you like this, and if dating him ma-“

“We’re not”, Ermal’s voice was low but his defeated tone caused Francesca to stop talking, and look at him wide-eyed.

“You’re not what?”, even though she already suspected an answer.

“Dating. Fabrizio and me, we’re not.”

“But you-“

“It’s an affair, okay? We’re just having some fun together, that’s all there is!”

Francesca listened to Ermal’s words, looked at him, him who was avoiding meeting her eyes, and sighed. They had started becoming friends shortly after she had begun working at the airport, and from how well she knew him, Francesca would say that Ermal wasn’t the type for random affairs. No, he seemed like a young man who was searching for a person that he could love with everything, with his heart, body and soul. And judged from the sweet smiles that sometimes involuntarily found their way onto Ermal’s face lately, she couldn’t believe that Ermal would be not interested in the chance to find exactly this with his Fabrizio.

But Francesca had no idea how the other man saw this, and she was aware that there was no point in telling Ermal to fight for what maybe could be a love if in the end, the other man saw him just as a fun distraction. So all she could do was hope that things would work out for her friend, and when Francesca spotted the first passengers for the next flight they were responsible for approaching, she was relieved for the distraction.

“Okay, let’s get to work”, she said with an encouraging smile towards Ermal, and quickly squeezed his arm.

Ermal nodded, but there still was a hint of sadness to be spotted in his dark eyes. And Francesca mused that this Fabrizio would have to be one major idiot, should he not take his chance to go out with this cutie.

While Ermal controlled a group of businessmen, his thoughts were still focused on the conversation with Francesca, and he cursed how easily readable he seemingly was for her. Of course he would have liked to have whatever was between Fabrizio and him to develop into something that wasn’t solely based on physical pleasures. Of course thinking of the other man made him happy, no matter how much he tried to avoid it, and it wasn’t the kind of happy one would expect from an affair. At least not solely. There was the thrill, the excitement, the hunger to try out new things, yes, they absolutely were present, but at the same time, Ermal couldn’t deny that maybe, just maybe, a butterfly or two had found their way into his stomach. Or maybe a dozen. Or maybe a hundred. 

Didn’t they say that there was nothing more dangerous than the truth? Right in this moment, Ermal would have agreed wholeheartedly. The truth was that he caught himself falling in love with Fabrizio. And if he wouldn’t be careful, then he’d be running with eyes wide open into the danger of getting his heart broken.

Ermal tried his best to focus on nothing but his job, which worked well for a while, until it was after lunchtime, and Francesca just had excused herself for a bathroom break, so Ermal was alone at their security checkpoint. A family of four approached him, and from the distance, Ermal couldn’t hear what the father said to the others. But he saw how the mother hurried her steps at his words, her eyes cast down, as if she wouldn’t dare to look at him. And Ermal saw how the older of the two little girls placed an arm around her younger sister, and thereby stepped between her and the father. He saw how the two children held onto each other, and tried to take a deep breath, another, forcing some air into his lungs. Which wasn’t working all too well.

The man sat his leather bag down with a heavy thump, and Ermal flinched. He said his standard sentence about keys, phones, coins in pockets, not looking into the man’s eyes, and after he had stepped through, Ermal turned towards the woman. She fumbled with the lock of her handbag, her fingers shaking, and Ermal forced a gentle smile onto his face.

“Take your time, ma’am”, he said, not loud enough for her husband to hear, and she looked at him, puzzled. As if even the smallest hint of kindness was something she couldn’t understand.

Ermal checked the woman’s handbag, then let her step through the scanner, and turned towards the two little girls. 

“Hello”, he crouched down so he was at eye-level with the girls, even though that might not be quite according to protocol, “my name is Ermal, can I please have a look into your backpacks?”

“Yes, of course, sir”, the older girl answered, while her sister just nodded.

Carefully, Ermal controlled the colourful little backpacks - unsuspicious of course - and then, when he just helped the elder sister to shoulder her backpack again, they heard a shout.

“Ey!”, the father was walking back towards them from where he had been waiting, his wife following him with small steps, “What the hell is taking so long there? If it’s that fucking bear I told you to leave at home, I swear to God..”

The smaller girl held her teddy bear a bit closer, and her sister grabbed her hand to hold it. Instead of turning towards the man now standing behind him, Ermal tried to focus on nothing but the two little kids in front of him. He placed a hand on the older sister’s shoulder, slowly, gently, and then spoke to them in a low voice.

“Take care of each other. And please, please never give up. Things will get better, I promise. And you’ll always have each other.”

While her little sister just shot Ermal a toothy smile, the older sister looked into his eyes, and then, after holding his glance for a moment, she nodded. And Ermal would have liked to say more to them, to try to offer at least a tiny bit of support, no matter how little it managed to change, but before he got the chance to do so, a hand gripped his uniform jacket above the shoulder, roughly dragging him up to his feet. Ermal came face to face with the man, and soon was at the receiving end of his snarls.

“What the fuck do you clown think you’re talking there to my children?”, and his hand still was curled into the fabric of Ermal’s jacket. 

“Claudio”, his wife tried to calm him down, but the man just ignored her.

And Ermal knew he should step back. Knew that there was nothing he could do here, no way to help. And yet, he didn’t. He stayed there, staring into the man’s light eyes, not even trying to mask the hate in his own. For a moment, the man stared back, but then he swallowed, uncomfortable, and let go of Ermal’s jacket.

With a slur on his lips, the man turned around, walked away from the security checkpoint with his family, and when they nearly had rounded the distant corner, the older girl turned around, back towards Ermal. And smiled at him.

The next passengers to control were two teenage girls, and when one of them handed Ermal her handbag, he nearly dropped it. His grip on the leather tightened, he ignored the looks that the girls were throwing at him, and soon after, Francesca got back.

“Erm, hey, are you o-“, she had placed a hand on his arm, but he jerked away from the touch, and when she got the first good look at his eyes, hollow inside his ashen coloured face, she swallowed. 

“I’m fine”, he whispered, convincing Francesca even less than himself.

“Do you want to take a break?”

Ermal thought of the smoking area outside, a place that always was crowded by passengers, staff, taxi drivers and whoever happened to be there, and shook his head. Being inside such an unpredictable swarm of people didn’t sound any tempting to him, and he’d prefer to stay at his workplace, where he at least partly possessed control over the environment, and where there was a person by his side that he trusted.

“It’s okay, really”, he assured, and then tried to focus on his breathing, count the seconds along that it took to breathe in and out.

Francesca kept shooting him worried glances, but stayed silent, until she caught a glance of the big clock in the hall across from them and realized that Ermal’s shift nearly had ended.

“You can call it a day if you like, I’ve got this here.”

“You sure? I can stay, I should-“

“You should drink a hot chocolate and cuddle yourself into a nice blanket, judged by how you look. It’s no problem, really”, she made a vague movement with her arm, towards the hall which indeed only spotted very few passengers, “And, anyways, I still owe you one for changing shifts when I wanted to surprise Carla for her birthday.”

“Hey, no, you don’t owe me anything for that, that’s just what friends d-“

“Exactly”, Francesca shot Ermal a willing smile, “That’s what friends do. Friends help out when a friend’s girlfriend has her birthday, and friends make sure that a friend can go home a little earlier when he isn’t feeling well.”

Ermal noticed the smile tugging at his lips, and briefly hugged her before walking away. Only that he wasn’t on his way home.

Fabrizio and him had made plans, at the older man’s apartment this time, and so, Ermal walked towards the metro station and took the train towards Fabrizio’s place. And of course, Francesca had been right earlier, judging his situation as that of someone who’d appreciate a hot drink and some cuddles, but, well, he had plans, and he didn’t want to cancel on Fabrizio. The other man had sent him a text earlier, letting him know how much he was looking forward to the evening, and, back then, Ermal had felt nothing but excitement when reading this. Said excitement was gone now, but he’d be alright. Seeing Fabrizio would make him feel better, of that he was sure, and so, Ermal straightened his tie before starting to walk up the stairs to the other’s flat, and tried to remember the things they had planned to do, things that had sounded oh so nice when they had talked about them.

Fabrizio had tidied up his whole flat as soon as he had come home from work, and then, once the end of Ermal’s shift was approaching, he also had lit some candles in the bedroom – which might not have been a part of what they had talked about, but he couldn’t resist the nice little touch, even though he tried to tell himself that this wasn’t necessarily _romantic_. 

He had wanted to ask Ermal out on a date, had nearly been ready to do so a few times, but then, in the very last moment, courage always had left him again. Tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll do so, he promised himself while falling asleep in Ermal’s arms, and then, when the next day was there, he promised the same. And somewhere, in a dark corner of his mind, he wondered if his own procrastinating would go on long enough until Ermal would have enough of him, and if it wouldn’t be wiser to enjoy a good thing as long as it lasted.

A knock at the door rose Fabrizio out of his dark thoughts, and while he walked to let Ermal in, excitement took over, the same excitement he felt every time around the younger man. With a bright smile, Fabrizio opened the door, and then, as if his emotions were an actual rollercoaster, that smile fell, like wrinkled leaves from a tree in a biting November wind. He took in Ermal’s pale face, his eyes that weren’t quite meeting his own, and swallowed heavily. And he would have liked to ask what’s wrong, to offer his help with whatever was putting Ermal, sweet cheeky wonderful Ermal, into such a state, but they didn’t talk about personal matters much, at least not about the deep things, so he wasn’t sure if he should. Instead, he opened his arms, and tried to catch Ermal’s gaze.

“Would you like a hug?”

The younger man nodded, and stepped forward, burying his face in Fabrizio’s shoulder. And for a moment, just a short one, he allowed himself to think about how it might be. To come home after a shitty day at work to step into his boyfriend’s arms, and just forget about the troubles of the world.

But this was just a fantasy, they weren’t boyfriends, and he was here because they had planned on something, not to simply get cuddles. So Ermal took Fabrizio’s hand and led the older man towards the bedroom, ignoring his questioning glances.

“Ermal-“, and the way in which Fabrizio said his name was so _soft_, Ermal couldn’t deal with that, didn’t want to.

“Lay down”, he told Fabrizio, which the other man did, stretching on the bed. 

And he painted a very pretty picture there, Fabrizio in his nicely fitted white shirt and with his messy hair, laying on top of the pillows, and Ermal let his eyes roam over his body, trying to get into the right mood.

Thinking back to their texts from the previous evening, Ermal remembered a nice picture that Fabrizio had sent him, a pair of hands bound to a bedframe by a dark tie, and so, he took a hold of the older man’s wrists. Ermal held them above Fabrizio’s head, willing the slight trembling in his own hands to stop, and he was not looking into Fabrizio's eyes, but he heard his voice.

"Ermal, stop this", Fabrizio said, nearly a whisper but his voice yet steady, firm.

Ermal stilled in his movements immediately, and his eyes flickered towards Fabrizio's wrists again, his own hands holding them tight, before he rapidly let go.

"Did, did I hurt you?", Ermal whispered, and for the first time that evening, looked into Fabrizio's eyes.

He couldn’t read the expression in their chocolate coloured depths, couldn’t see if Fabrizio was upset with him or not, and that scared him a bit. He just wanted things to be alright, and to give Fabrizio a nice time, but seemingly, today he wouldn’t even be able to do this, and he cursed the whole day inside his head. 

Ermal tried to shuffle away, until they wouldn’t be touching anymore, but Fabri didn't let him. Instead, he gently raised one of his hands, and touched it to Ermal's cheek

"You didn't, hurt me I mean, not at all, but I can sense that something is wrong. And I, well, I can't help but feel like you're not quite in the mood for this right now?"

Ermal leaned into the touch, he couldn’t help himself, and then, decided to trust Fabri, just a hint.

"I'm not, not really, my day's just been so terrible, and I, dude, what I'd _like_ is my grandma to make me a hot chocolate, but, obviously, we can't have that, and I didn't want to disappoint you, I didn't-"

Fabrizio looked into Ermal's eyes, something so.. _fragile_ in them, and then, does what's natural to him, by very gently wrapping his arms around Ermal and holding him tight. Ermal just let himself be held, resting his head at Fabrizio's shoulder, and when the other man tried to pull away a bit, Ermal might have been clinging to him. 

And this felt so very nice, to just be held, to allow himself to be. Nearly like being protected, nearly like being _loved_.

Fabrizio then asked Ermal to please let him go, just for a minute, and when Ermal did, he once again didn’t meet the other's eyes, but nevertheless, he felt a soft kiss being pressed to his temple, and despite everything, he smiled.

Ermal had assumed that Fabrizio needed to go to the bathroom or something the like, so when he took the other door out of the bedroom, it was a surprise, and once he didn’t return for a few minutes, Ermal started to become a bit anxious. What if he had managed to disappoint the other, despite trying his best not to? Or what if Fabrizio was upset with him for not having said right away that he wasn’t in the mood for sex? What if..

Ermal wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, and then, before his thoughts could get lost in even darker spirals, Fabrizio came back. He pressed the door open with his shoulder, carrying a tablet with a mug, a bowl and a little bottle, which he carefully rested on the bedside table. With a smile that nearly was shy, he handed Ermal the mug, and it might not exactly be his grandma's hot chocolate, but Ermal still could have cried from how wonderfully sweet it was, in more than one sense of the word.

"The cookies are from yesterday already, I made them with Anita together, and they were better when they were fresh, but, I think they're still quite nice?", Fabrizio mumbled, and then held out his hand for Ermal, containing one of the slightly lumpy lemon cookies.

Ermal took the cookie, ate a little bite, and smiled at how nicely it tasted. He gave Fabrizio a thumbs up, which caused the other man to let out a light chuckle (and oh, not even the trumpets in paradise could have sounded as wonderful to Ermal’s ears), and then ate some more cookies, drank the hot chocolate. And he had to smile, from how good this felt. How _right_.

"Thank you", Ermal whispered.

Fabrizio just shook his head, as if it was nothing, and he didn’t have the chance to actually formulate an answer, since Ermal already was talking again.

"And I, Fabrizio, I’m sorry that we couldn't keep up with our original plan, that I couldn’t- but maybe, if you give me a little time, I could later-"

"Hey, no, that's not neces- if you're not feeling well, or just not up to any sexy stuff, then I'm perfectly happy to make you more chocolate, or to hold you, or, of course if you'd like to, to just leave you on your own, if you'd prefer that”, Fabrizio lost the track of his words for a moment, but after a glance at Ermal, he decided to sum things up, “however, you really don't need to fuck me just for the sake of it, if you don't feel like it"

"You- really?", and Ermal couldn’t quite believe it, not yet, because this just sounded too nice to be true. And too close to what he might have been dreaming of, for a few weeks already, without ever quite admitting it to himself.

"But Ermal, of course", and Fabrizio's voice nearly sounded pained now, while he softly grabbed Ermal's hand, held it.

"You, you don't think I only meet you because I want you to fuck me, do you?"

Ermal hesitated, just looked at the other man, and with that, Fabrizio thinks he did get his answer.

"Ermal", it was nothing more than a shaky exhale, "is this just a random hookup to you? Or, do you think it is to me?"

Fabrizio wanted an answer to his question, he _needed_ one, but at the same time, he was scared of it. Scared that the answer might be "both".

Ermal looked at Fabrizio, deep into his eyes that seemed like a maelstrom of emotions, before he shook his head, and then spoke, some feelings of his own finding their way into his voice.

"It's not just a random hookup to me. How could it ever be, when we, when with you, I-"

And Ermal stopped talking when Fabri softly wiped his thumb over his cheek, and only in this moment noticed the tear there. He took a deep breath, and then, gathering the bravery inside his heart together, he continued what he had to say, his voice containing more urgency than Fabrizio ever had heard it with. Because this _mattered_, and if he was gonna say it, then he would like to Fabrizio understand him right.

"I really don't want this to be just a random hookup", Ermal confessed, Fabrizio's finger still gently wandering over his skin, "and I don't want you to meet me only for me to fuck you and then say goodbye."

"But darling, then you don't have to."

Ermal looked at Fabrizio, just stared into his face, tried to make sense of what he just said.

"You mean, we could-", Ermal tried, not even sure _what_ exactly they could. Go on a date? Become boyfriends? Love each other?

"If you'd like to?", Fabrizio offered, and now, Ermal’s thoughts halted to a stop. 

Because Fabrizio somehow sounded.. unsure. As if it wasn't absolutely obvious to him how utterly and completely gone for him Ermal already was.

"But of course I'd like to! Fabri, I, I'd love to!", and Ermal grabbed Fabrizio's hand, as if the other would suddenly vanish if he wouldn't hold him close.

Fabrizio's whole face seemed to light up with his smile, and he instantly looked around ten years younger, and very much like a man with whom it was totally reasonable for a certain Albanian in the same bed to fall in love with. Even more so than it already had been before. And Ermal couldn’t help but lean in, and capture Fabrizio's lips in a kiss, probably the sweetest one they had shared so far. They continued to kiss for a while, no lust hurrying the kisses, no hunger deepening them, no, just sweet kisses for the sake of themselves, and as pleasant as their previous kisses had been, Ermal couldn’t have denied that he absolutely loved these too.

Somehow, they ended up with Fabrizio laying on his back, Ermal half on top of him, strong tattooed arms around his middle.

"Do you want another cookie?", Fabrizio asked after a few moments of silence, and when Ermal raised his head from his chest, there was a bunch of curls falling into his face, into his eyes.

Fabrizio lifted his arm, to softly tuck them out of the younger’s eyes, and when he raised an eyebrow, to remind the other of his question, Ermal nodded happily. So Fabrizio picked up the bowl again, grabbed a cookie, and then, after a second and with a smile that was bordering on shy, he held the cookie in front of Ermal's lips, instead of just handing it to him. Ermal locked his eyes with Fabrizio’s, leaned up his head to take a bite, his lips oh so lightly touching the older’s fingers, and then, feeling some of the tension of the situation having left his body, Ermal licked his lips, not missing the widening of Fabrizio's pupils at that.

And then, Ermal's eyes fell on the tablet, and he got curious about the little bottle that was standing next to the now empty AC/DC mug that had contained his chocolate.

"What's that?", he asked, picking up the glass bottle in elegant fingers.

“Well, you really didn’t look good earlier, and it reminded me of myself when I’ve got a migraine, so I brought this along, it’s made from peppermint oil, and it usually helps me very well, just in case you might have a headache.”

Ermal wouldn’t call the pain in his head bad, but there certainly was an underlying tension, caused by the day’s stressful events, no matter how nicely they had played out in the end. Or how nicely they might, given that Ermal felt like Fabrizio and him still should continue talking about this thing between them, only that now, he wasn’t afraid of this anymore.

“So, can I try it? What do I need to do?”, Ermal asked while opening the bottle, sniffling at what was inside.

“Come here”, Fabrizio said instead of an answer, opening his arms, and, once Ermal had made himself comfortable inside them, he took the bottle from him, whispering: “Just relax.”

Ermal did so, closing his eyes, and it was an unexpected sensation when he felt one of Fabrizio’s fingers touching his temple, dipped in the oil. It felt cold against his skin, as well as very nice, and Fabrizio took his time to massage Ermal’s temples, his neck, and then, after quickly rubbing his fingers at his shirt, he continued his massage by gently kneading through Ermal’s curls.

“You sound like a cat”, Fabrizio remarked with a smile in his voice, and Ermal pouted at that, but didn’t see it necessary to open his eyes.

“Do not”, he mumbled in disagreement, and Fabrizio just grinned, continuing to listen how Ermal purred while he massaged his head.

And then, after a while, the purrs stopped, because Ermal had fallen asleep. Fabrizio continued to play with his curls, softer now, and when he once again promised himself to ask Ermal out on a date the following day, for the first time, he fully believed himself…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments as always very welcome 💕


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings finally come to the surface, and maybe, Fabrizio will even get the date he's been dreaming of...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soft smut and lots of feels this time 💕

When Ermal woke up, he heard a noise, but he was not sure if the noise had actually woken him up, or if it just happened to be there once he left the realm of dreams. And he couldn’t place the noise, least of all in the half-asleep state he was in, but what he did become aware of was how very well he had slept, his sleep for once not disturbed by any nightmares, and how comfortable he still felt. He smiled, his eyes still closed, and snuggled a little further into his pillow- only to stop, because something was weird here.

This pillow seemed not made of smooth fabric, it rather was rebellious, tickling his nose even, and when he had to sneeze from that, Ermal opened his eyes. And after they had widened for a split second, his earlier smile returned, only that it was ten times as bright now. Because he realized that it hadn't been a pillow that his face slept buried in, no, not at all. This soft and yet tickling surface rather was the chaotic dark hair of a certain Roman, and now that Ermal fully woke up, he also noticed how he had slept with one of his arms curled around Fabrizio's inked chest, and that the noise he had heard earlier actually was the other man's light snoring. Which happened to sound way more adorable than it had any right to be. 

Fabrizio's eyes were closed, his long dark lashes casting nicely patterned shadows on his freckled cheeks, and when Ermal remembered the way that his face had been lighting up yesterday, faced with the possibility that they could become a.. _something_, he felt an intense wave of tenderness wash over himself.

Ermal didn't dare move too much, as he did not want to wake Fabrizio when the other was sleeping so peacefully, and so, he just stayed like this for a while, mesmerizedly watching Fabrizio's face, his chest, his tattoos. And he didn't mind it in the slightest. No, he absolutely adored watching this man sleep, sleep in his arms as if it was the safest place he could imagine himself to be, and when he noticed the first fluttering of Fabrizio's eyelids, Ermal softly touched a hand to his cheek, feeling soft skin and then rough stubbles underneath his fingers.

Fabrizio blinked his eyes open, rubbed the sleep out of them and then turned towards Ermal's soft touch, smiling gently when their gazes met.

"Good morning", Fabrizio whispered, and Ermal wondered if he ever had heard the other's voice sound quite as rough as it did now, so shortly after waking up.

"Hello, handsome", Ermal answered with a smile.

At the compliment, Fabrizio's cheeks started to darken, just a little bit, and Ermal hid his face in the bird nest that was the other's hair once again, not quite ready to deal with how incredibly adorable he looked.

Fabrizio basked in the feeling of Ermal's closeness for a moment, in the warmth of his compliment, and then, he leaned up on his elbow, until he was half hovering over the younger man.

"Ermal, how are you feeling?"

The curly haired man swallowed, and then smiled, "Better. Really, much better. _Thank you_."

Hearing the emotions lingering underneath Ermal's voice, Fabrizio leaned down, and he could see it in the other's expression, that he expected a proper kiss, but instead, Fabrizio decided to surprise him, and left a light peck at his cheek. This action earned him a soft chuckle, nearly sounding as if Ermal giggled, and when their eyes met again, it felt to Fabrizio as if his heart had been hit by a lightning flash.

Ermal's eyes looked at him, so vulnerable, so _open_, and Fabrizio couldn’t quite yet believe that this was real, that this was his reality now, that it at least might be. Waking up with this wonderful man holding him close, sharing glances bleeding with tenderness, being able to show him the kindness that he deserved.

Fabrizio let his fingers wander through Ermal's soft curls, caressing them like he had done the night before, and therewhile, he thought about how hopefully, today would be a nicer day for Ermal than the previous had been. His eyes on Ermal's face, watching for any sign of discomfort, Fabrizio let his fingers wander, first down Ermal's elegant face, along his cheekbones, over his throat, then towards his collarbones, which he followed with his nails. Ermal softly shivered underneath his touch, and when Fabrizio leaned down, to now trace his collarbone with his tongue, a soft sigh left the younger's pale lips.

"Is this okay?", Fabrizio whispered against the soft skin at the side of Ermal's throat, and then, when there wasn't an answer for a moment, looked up.

"Hmm", Ermal mumbled, once he noticed Fabrizio's questioning glance, and then, he gifted him with the sweetest smile, somehow both bright and shy at the same time, "It's lovely", and with that, he closed his eyes, ready to completely get lost in Fabrizio's caresses again.

Fabrizio leaned towards his face and left a little kiss at his nose, he couldn’t help it, and then, while softly letting his hands wander over Ermal's upper arm, muscles feelable under the slim surface, he started kissing down the younger's chest. First a straight line, in the middle of his ribcage, before he turned a little to the left, closing his full lips around Ermal's nipple. He could feel the other's fastened heartbeat underneath his skin, and the thought that _he_ was the reason why Ermal's heart was beating faster here caused the butterflies in his stomach to fly in somersaults around each other.

After caressing both of Ermal's nipples, with his lips and a hint of his teeth, Fabrizio leaned up again, to check the younger's face, and when he saw his relaxed smile, his lightly flushed cheeks, he decided to take this a little further. For a moment, he let the fingers of his left hand wander along the inside of Ermal's pale arm, following the rather prominent veins there, and then, he linked their fingers together, his thumb softly striking over the back of Ermal's hand. And for a second, Fabrizio got distracted, as he wondered how it might feel to hold Ermal's hand in other circumstances - at the sofa, watching a stupid movie together, under the dinner table, or maybe, just maybe, even out in the street.. This was far away of course, they'd have to talk about it, about so many things, but Fabrizio didn't see it impossible. And so, he smiled, a little private smile at the perspective of a future that seemed oh so bright, before focusing on the lovely body underneath him again.

Plush lips kissed along Ermal's flat stomach, feeling slight movements underneath, and then, when Fabrizio just was about to turn his attention towards the younger man's prominent hipbones, he noticed something. Starting at the side of Ermal's hip, curling towards his back, there was a scar - faint, an old wound that did have years and years to heal, and yet, one that had been deep enough to still leave traces. Fabrizio stared at it, and, for a second that stole the breath out of his lungs, wondered if there might be more marks on Ermal's body, traces of pain that so far had been hidden from him by twilight, lust and never enough time. He swallowed, before reminding himself of what really mattered here.

Maybe there would be a time when Ermal would want to tell Fabrizio about what had happened to him, maybe there wouldn't be, it didn't matter. What _did_ matter right now was that Ermal did feel safe, did feel cared for, did feel _loved_, and so, Fabrizio took a breath that might have shook a bit, before he leaned down again. 

Gently, oh so gently, he placed a kiss on Ermal's scar, and then, froze in the movement, when he heard the young man's sharp intake of breath.  
Fabrizio leaned up, and shortly after met Ermal's nearly black eyes, their expression unreadable to him. He didn't know what to say, how to apologize should he have overstepped a boundary here, how to ask if he had done, and so, Fabrizio just stayed unmoving. And then, something wavered in Ermal's gaze, and his voice was the softest whisper.

"You, you don't have to-"

"Shh", Fabrizio just made, ignoring the cracking feeling in his own heart, because it was Ermal who mattered right now, just Ermal and this _fragility_ in his eyes.

With a soft smile, Fabrizio let his fingers brush along Ermal's cheek, and then, he leaned back down, to place another kiss at the scar.

When he spoke, Fabrizio made sure to raise his voice a bit, so that even if he spoke against Ermal's skin, the younger man would be able to understand him well.

"You're so beautiful", Fabrizio said, underlining his words with more kisses, more caresses, more tender emotions.

While his kisses moved along Ermal's hipbone, from the side of his body towards the center, Fabrizio noticed that the curly haired man seemed to enjoy this in more than just one way, seemed to enjoy his touches rather a lot. He smiled, and while there might be a time for teasing, for stretching this out, it wasn't on this day - not when everything he wanted to do was to make Ermal feel good, and, admittedly, when he finally saw the chance to do something he had fantasized about since their first meeting at the airport. And so, Fabrizio placed a butterfly light kiss at the tip of Ermal's cock, before taking him in his mouth.

It had been quite a while since Fabrizio had given someone a blowjob, but judged by Ermal's moans, and the way he started moving his hips underneath Fabrizio's touches, the older man suspected that he still knew quite well what to do. He tried to take Ermal's whole length only once, then making up for what he couldn’t swallow without choking himself by adding some help from his hand, and when he saw Ermal's fingers moving on the bed, before curling into the bedsheets, he nodded, as encouragingly as he could with a quite impressive dick in his mouth. Ermal seemed to get what he meant, and buried one of his hands in Fabrizio's hair, gentle at first, then holding on tighter, and once the older tried a trick with his tongue, Ermal's elegant fingers grabbed Fabrizio's hair so hard that it hurt. And Fabrizio loved it. He moaned around Ermal's dick, the vibrations causing the younger's hips to jerk upwards, and Fabrizio placed his hands on Ermal's hips, holding him down while he fastened the movements of his mouth. 

Ermal's hands held onto his hair as if it was his only lifeline, Fabrizio gave it all he got, basking in the other man’s pleasure and how much it turned himself on, and when he heard how broken Ermal’s voice sounded, it wasn’t without a hint of pride.

“I, I’m gonna, oh fuck, Bizio, I will-“, and Ermal loosened his grip in Fabrizio’s hair, to give him an opportunity to retreat, but the older man didn’t.

Instead, Fabrizio continued, emptying his cheeks and wickedly moving his tongue while bopping his head up and down, and then, when he glanced up, he happened to meet the gaze of Ermal, who had been watching him with glassy eyes, mesmerized. Two pairs of dark eyes locked, and Ermal came with a shout, his whole body convulsing, and Fabrizio swallowed, until finally letting Ermal’s dick slip out of his mouth before collapsing on the bed next to the other man.

When Ermal came back to his senses after a moment or three of blissed out ecstasy, his thighs still trembling slightly, he forced himself to open his eyes, and once he had done so, he couldn’t have been more glad. Because the image that presented itself to him truly was mesmerizing: Fabrizio was laying next to him, his head resting on one of his wonderfully tattooed arms, his cheeks looked flushed, his hair was a mess even more than usual, and once he noticed that Ermal was back with him again, he smiled brightly. And there was a trace of sticky white liquid in the corner of his smile, something that caused Ermal to swallow heavily, and then he leaned close, to lick it away, to passionately kiss the other man, his slender fingers grabbing bearded cheeks while he rolled on top of Fabrizio.

Ermal deepened their kiss, cheekily biting down on Fabrizio’s lower lip which caused the other to groan, and then, when the younger man shifted his hips a bit while sitting on top of the older, he noticed something. And smirked. 

“Should I maybe help you with this?”, Ermal whispered, not quite as sexy as he would have hoped, with how slightly breathless, and how very _happy_ he still sounded.

“Yes, if, if you’d like to-“, Fabrizio answered, and Ermal caught himself thinking that shyness suited the other man just as well as his eagerness to try out the kinkiest things.

“With the greatest pleasure”, and so, Ermal wrapped his arms around Fabrizio, lifting him up and motioning to move around a little, until the older was sitting in his lap, his legs circling around Ermal’s slender waist.

Ermal continued to kiss Fabrizio, slowly now, both of their eyes fluttering closed, and therewhile, his hand painted mindless patterns on Fabrizio’s tanned back, his long nails leaving slightly red tracks on his sun kissed skin. When the fingers of Ermal’s other hand found their way around Fabrizio’s cock, he shuddered, his head dropping onto Ermal’s shoulder, and the younger held him a little closer, while stroking Fabrizio faster.

Soon, Ermal noticed how when he twitched his fingers just right, the most beautiful moans got gasped into his shoulder, and the more Fabrizio’s control slipped, the cheekier Ermal did smile against the other’s hair. 

“Can you come for me, Fabrizio?”, Ermal whispered against the older man’s ear, before kissing the tip of it, and another gasp escaped from Fabrizio’s full lips.

“Yes, yes, everything”, Fabrizio stammered, his back arching while Ermal noticed how the other’s hips started to tremble slightly.

“Yes, like that, just let go, let me take care of you baby.”

Finally, it was the pet name that did it, causing Fabrizio’s body to spasm while he bit down on Ermal’s shoulder to muffle his own scream and the younger man felt hot liquid running over his hand. Fabrizio collapsed against him, and for a while, Ermal did nothing but holding him close, his fingers moving gently over heated skin, his voice whispering sweet nothings into the other’s ear.

The first thing that Fabrizio did once he became a little more aware of his surroundings again was to press a kiss to the spot in Ermal’s shoulder that he had bitten earlier, and when he leaned back a little, was faced with heavenly curls illuminated from behind by a gentle morning sun and dark eyes shining with so much warmth, when he saw the smile on Ermal’s lips, he couldn’t resist.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”, Fabrizio rushed through the words, and he didn’t even have time to regret the unplanned way in which they came out, because Ermal’s smile became even brighter than it already had been.

“Now if that isn’t romantic, asking me out all classy while your come is still sticking to my fingers”, but there was no bite to Ermal’s voice, and Fabrizio had to chuckle.

While internally, Fabrizio thought about how there could have been a way more stupid thing to say in such a situation.

“So, is that a No?”, Fabrizio teased after a moment, and Ermal shook his head, his curls dancing merrily.

“You’re an idiot, and you know that it’s not”, he leaned forward, placed the hint of a kiss on Fabrizio’s forehead, and continued in a softer voice, “I’d like to go on a date with you, of course, I’d love to.”

“Wonderful”, the excitement, the joy seemed to be dripping from Fabrizio’s voice, “how about I take you out for dinner on Friday?”

“Friday? Oh, now this seems _awfully_ far away”, Ermal pouted, and Fabrizio had to kiss that expression right off his face.

“Hmm, how about a compromise then?”

“I’m all ears”, and Ermal snuggled a little more into Fabrizio’s arms.

“Dinner on Friday, but a shower now?”

Ermal pretended to have to think about this, barely existent brows furrowing, before he asked: “When you say shower, you mean.. together?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, this doesn’t sound all too terrible.”

“I could wash your hair, if you’d like?”

“I’ll think about it”, Ermal said with a smile, while already getting up from the bed, extending his hand towards Fabrizio.

And so it happened that the first, but certainly not the last time that Ermal and Fabrizio held hands was on the short way towards the bathroom of Fabrizio’s flat.

_ **Friday** _

Fabrizio had spend quite some time thinking about which restaurant he could take Ermal to, and while he had even googled some really fancy places, in the end, he realized that this wouldn’t really be.. _him_. So instead, he chose a little place in a side alley not too far from where he had grown up, a restaurant where Maria, the owner, usually knew every guest by their name, and her spaghetti cacio e pepe had been the only good thing about quite a few dark days during some harder times in Fabrizio’s past. And, on top of how nice the little place was, and how good the food, it also felt.. significant, in a way. Because it was close to his home, because it very well could happen that they would meet someone there that Fabrizio knew, and because of how through this, Fabrizio wanted to show Ermal that he didn’t feel any shame about their relationship, or what hopefully would be called a relationship soon. No, he didn’t feel the need to hide how very enamored by a certain curly haired gentleman he was, not in front of anyone, nowhere.

Never before had Fabrizio had a first date with someone he had fucked before, multiple times even, and never before had there been better chances at a first date. And yet, he couldn’t help but still feel a certain nervousness mixing with his excitement, and so, he changed his outfit around seven times before leaving his home. Finally he settled on a dark shirt with a red jacket and tight jeans, some jewelry on top, and when he walked out of the door, after having added some or some more perfume, he already was around ten minutes later than he had planned.

Fabrizio still made it to the restaurant in time, even if barely, and he rushed inside, his eyes scanning over the faces of the few guests who already were sitting at one of the little round tables.

“Fabrizio Mobrici, is that really you?”, a familiar voice suddenly sounded, and Fabrizio smiled at Maria, before the elderly lady leaned on her tiptoes, to be able to kiss both of his cheeks.

“Ciao, dear Maria, it is me indeed.”

“Oh how good you look, my dear, and how healthy”, she said while stroking a hand along his cheek, and then, a certain glint appeared in her eyes that never had lost their sharp glance in all her years, “Actually, you look _really_ nice, just look at those pants, and is that perfume I smell? Let me guess, dear boy, you don’t plan to have dinner alone today, do you?”

“You’re right, of course”, Fabrizio could feel a slight blush spreading on his cheeks, at being readable so easy, “I’m meeting someone here.”

Maria quickly looked around at her guests, and then leaned closer, a hint of conspiracy in her tone: “What are we looking for?”

“The loveliest curls you’ve ever seen, big dark eyes, the most charming smile”, Fabrizio described, and Maria nodded along.

“Could it be possible that you’re quite gone here already, Fabrizio?”, she teased, before smiling good-heartedly, “I hope that your special lady does get here very soon.”

Fabrizio swallowed at that, unsure what to say, if he should explain, how he could, and Maria seemed to notice his silence, but before she could comment on it, the door of the restaurant flew open, a rush of fresh night air blowing inside together with a whirlwind of curls.

“I’m so sorry that I’m late”, Ermal said in a breathless voice before quickly walking up to them, some of the worry vanishing from his eyes when Fabrizio hugged him close. 

“No problem, my dear, everything’s fine as long as you’re here”, Fabrizio whispered into Ermal’s curls, and then, when they loosened their hug, he kept an arm slung around the younger man’s hip. 

For a moment, Fabrizio got distracted by the smile that Ermal shot him, but then, he remembered the presence of Maria, who still stood in front of them, her eyes having curiously followed the exchange.

“Maria”, Fabrizio started, his voice a hint higher than usual, “May I introduce Ermal?”

The old lady nodded; her expression unreadable. Fabrizio chose to just continue, since there was no way to change her opinion however it might be anyways.

“Ermal, this is Maria, she makes the best pasta I’ve ever eaten, and I’ve known her since forever.”

“Forever indeed”, she mused, smiling now, “I still can remember this one when he was running around on the street with his friends, barely four years old, pulling along a little wooden tractor on a string.”

“Mariaa”, Fabrizio started, embarrassed, but Ermal just smiled, and Maria looked at them knowingly.

“You’ve always been adorable, you know. Now, let me show you to a table, and get you a candle”, and with that, she walked towards the back of the restaurant, motioning for the two men to follow her.

The table she had chosen was hidden in a corner, causing it to be a little secluded from the rest of the restaurant, and there was a little window next to it, offering a view towards the lights that always had meant home to Fabrizio.

Maria watched with a glint in her eyes how Fabrizio pulled back the chair so Ermal could sit down on it, and after handing both of them one of the handwritten menus, she leaned down towards Fabrizio, and whispered into his ear.

“Lovely curls indeed. I’m happy for you.”

Fabrizio was speechless for a moment, then ordered a wine for them in a slightly shaky voice, and Maria just rested her hand on his back for a second, before moving away, promising to be back once they had chosen what to eat.

“I’m glad we’re here”, Ermal murmured softly, and then, he reached across the table, to grab Fabrizio’s hand.

The older man curled his fingers around Ermal’s, and while the night was falling outside of the window, the smile that Fabrizio and Ermal exchanged was brighter than the sun on the warmest of Roman summer days.

Fabrizio then recommended Ermal around every single dish on the menu, resulting in them finally deciding to order three different pastas and share, and if once in a while, it happened that Fabrizio was feeding Ermal with his fork, then Maria was the only one to see it. They shared light conversations during dinner, about the upcoming visit of Ermal’s sister, Fabrizio’s search for a new bed and the football season of his son, and while their talk was light, there seemed to be a deeper meaning to it all, one that caused an excited tingle in both of their stomachs. Because Ermal hesitatingly asked if Fabrizio maybe would be interested in meeting his sister, because Fabrizio invited Ermal along to watch a football match of Libero some time, and because Fabrizio’s bed was perfectly fine, except that it wasn’t really built for two people. 

After they had finished their pasta, Ermal licking his lips in a way that had Fabrizio thinking of how he couldn’t wait to get home tonight, Maria appeared at their table again, and once he spotted what the two plates that she carried did contain, an amazed gasp left Fabrizio’s lips.

“But-“, he started, gazing at Maria in surprise.

They hadn’t ordered a desert, and ever since his childhood, there had been one, just one of those that could keep up with Maria’s fantastic pasta in Fabrizio’s eyes. A warm little chocolate cake, one that he had failed to spot on the menu earlier, and one that he found placed in front of himself now.

“Something sweet for you two”, was all that Maria said, before walking away again, and Fabrizio couldn’t have chosen what was sweeter indeed, the cake that still tasted as amazing as in his memory, or the smile on Ermal’s face once he took his first bite.

And then, a few minutes later, Fabrizio found that he didn’t have to choose, when they shared a gentle kiss over the table, and Ermal’s lips tasted of chocolate. 

“This nearly was like our first kiss, you know”, Fabrizio murmured, thinking back of another table, of lust instead of sweetness, but of the same beautiful dark eyes seemingly looking into the depth of his very soul. 

“Nearly”, Ermal answered, and then raised Fabrizio’s hand with his own, to be able to place a kiss on top of the sun tattooed there.

Fabrizio hoped the darkness that only got broken by the candle and the light from the street lamps outside would hide his blush, but then, when he saw the expression in Ermal’s face, one that nearly could be described as _loving_, he realized that there could be worse things than if Ermal would see the impact of his actions on him here.

“Could you imagine going on a second date with me?”, Fabrizio asked, holding Ermal’s hand a little tighter.

“Hmm, on one condition.”

“And what would that be?”

“That our first date isn’t over yet.”

Fabrizio’s answer was another kiss, while his mind thought of words that he’d love to say some day, words of which he was sure that he’d tell them to Ermal at some point, words of which he was quite positive that they would get answered likewise then.

After that, Fabrizio hurried to pay, promising Maria to catch up again soon, and she just shot them a knowing smile, while the two walked out of the restaurant, holding hands and not being able to go a minute without sharing lovesick gazes with each other.

_ **Another Friday, a few months later** _

Sunlight was streaming through the high windows of the airport, and for once, the young man with the floofy curls was not hurrying through groups of tourists in his work uniform, no, today he was one of those himself. Ermal wore jeans and a leather jacket that he might have snatched from his boyfriend, together with a relaxed smile, and in his hand, he closely held a tattooed one. After they had turned in their suitcases, the two men walked towards the security control, and once it came in sight, Ermal stopped Fabrizio, locking his hands behind his boyfriend’s neck as if he was about to start a slow dance.

“Did you check your hand luggage for any forbidden items?”, Ermal managed to ask in a serious tone, and Fabrizio’s laughter had to sound brighter than the silver bells in paradise.

“As if you’d mind that I didn’t read any regulations back then.”

“Not at all, darling”, Ermal placed a quick kiss on Fabrizio’s cheek, “Not at all.”

And with that, they walked towards the security control, where Francesca shot both of them a bright smile. 

“Have a wonderful time, my friends”, she said as a goodbye, and Ermal smiled back at her happily.

He was sure that they would indeed have the most wonderful of times – today, tomorrow, for their whole holiday in Portugal, and, if Ermal’s dreams might come true, for the rest of his days. Because life seemed to have changed as it was supposed to be, and it truly was most beautiful, as long as he was holding Fabrizio…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had a little writer's crisis while working on this, and I want to thank my dear friends who did help me through it, from the bottom of my heart ❤️
> 
> And @you, dear reader, it would be most wonderful if you could leave me a comment; these are the best motivation to continue writing 🥰

**Author's Note:**

> I've never posted smth this explicit here, so I'm a bit nervous, and if you should have enjoyed this, please please leave me a comment, it would mean the world ❤️


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